Friday, April 29, 2011

For the second years in a row, the Seattle Seahawks have picked a left tackle in the first round. The 'Hawks picked Alabama's James Carpenters, at 6'4 321 pounds. He was the 25th pick of the draft. You can read the story here

Monday, April 25, 2011

"When you need coal or oil, call Boyle..Fairfax 8 1521...Fairfax 8 1521-"How easy is it to remember a telephone number these day. It's tough for us to remember our own numbers, let alone a company that you may never do business with. Ask anyone who lived anywhere in Eastern Washington, Oregon, or Idaho during the 1960s what the telephone number was to the Boyle Fuel Co in Spokane and they might say, Fairfax8-1521.Many decades ago, it was not uncommon for TV stations to have local origination programming. Spokane's KHQ or Q-6 had a talent show on Saturday night, sort of a local version of the "Ed Sullivan Show". Since only larger towns had TV stations, the three Spokane stations had signals that covered the entire "Inland Empire" (there were also three TV stations in the Tri Cities). The Saturday talent show was known as Starlit Stairway and featured local amateur talent from throughout the area. The most memorable part of the show were the twins who sang the sponsor's jingle in perfect harmony."For every heating problem for a furnace old or new--just call the Boyle Fuel Company and they'll solve them all for you"" When you need coal or oil--Call Boyle" Then each girl would recite the phone number"Fairfax 8- 1521 Fairfax 8-1521." I recently contacted KHQ to see if there was any remaining film of the storied commercial. The answer , according to current KHQ producer Lee Hite, was that the show was done live--there never was a recording except from what we remember almost 40 years ago.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Only days before, the story was that his career was over, however Brandon Roy turned in the performance of a lifetime in the second half helping the Portland Trail Blazer overcome a 23 point deficit and defeat the Dallas Mavericks. After hitting a three pointer to close out the third period, Roy scored 18 of the teams 35 points in the fourth. The opening best of seven series is now tied between the two teams at 2 games apiece.

Friday, April 22, 2011

The show that proved that there were more sports than just Baseball, Basketball, and Football, Wide World Of Sports debuted on April 29th, 1961. It would remain of the air until 2006. According to the Wikipedia, it was the creation of Edgar J. Sherick, Scherick hired RooneArledgeto be his producer and the rest is history. The show would air every Saturday on ABC. Arledge became became the leading figure in television sports and the creator of Monday Night Football.Viewers of Wide World Of Sports could see Boxing, Skiing, Track and Field, Auto Racing, and other sports that would not normally be seen on the air. It was Wide World Of Sports where such icons as Jim McKay, who would do the intro shown above, and Howard Cosell became household names.This week, ESPN, now owned by ABC, will celebrate Wide World Of Sports' 50thAnniversary by showing highlights of the show from over the years. Thank you to KJR's Mike Gastinaeu for the "heads up".

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sacramento, coincidentally, may be losing an NBA Franchise, but it also is gaining a radio personality. KJR-AM traffic reporter Nina Hajian has left to begin work as morning co-host with NOW 100.5. Hajian will team up with Baltazaar starting April 25th. Hajian announced her departure from KJR earlier this month.

It really hurts to lose an professional sports franchise, but when it's the only team in town, it much hurt worst. Sacramento, it's reported, is about to lose it's only tie to big league sports as the Kings are moving to Anaheim.

For the Kings, who are going back to being called the Royals, this will be the 4th city that they will have called home in my lifetime. When I first started watching the NBA, it was the Cincinnati Royals, then a move to Kansas City, where they became the Kings so they would not be mistaken for the KC Royals Baseball Franchise. they were actually called the KC-Omaha Kings, although they rarely played in Omaha. They eventually dropped Omaha and became,simply, the Kansas City Kings. From there, they headed west to become the Sacramento Kings. If they become the Royals again, it will be so they are not mistaken for the LA Kings Hockey Club. The Club actually began as the Rochester Royals.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

KJR Sportsradio Traffic Reporter Nina (I know her last name but she does not use it on the radio) has announced that she is leaving the station for a new opportunity. She will be leaving the station later this month. Nina replaced veteran Tracy Taylor, who left to report on KING5.

She is pictured above on the left. Nina has not announced what or where the new job will be.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Safeco Field will now be located on Dave Niehaus Way South. The late Hall Of Fame announcer was honored yesterday by the naming of the section of 1st Ave South that passes Safeco Field and by a plate in front of the Mariner Announcer Booth. Fans at Safeco wore white shoes in honor of his unique style of dress. It was the first game of the year at Safeco (the team opened up on the road) and the Mariners lost badly, but although the Mariners had their good days and bad, Dave Niehaus was always great.

Friday, April 08, 2011

A couple of years ago, I wrote a series about growing up with Walla Walla radio. Focusing on KUJ, the grandaddy of broadcasting in the region, I mentioned a distinctive "sign-off" from station owner Verne Russell. Perhaps only handful of people ever read it, but one former listener asked if there was still a tape left, that lead to another post, A couple of nights ago, I received an e-mail from the son of a prominent former Walla Walla resident saying they may have the "sign-off" on tape. His mother was enjoyed the hymn of "Peace In The Valley" which played after Verne's descriptive monologue. Verne was kind enough to send a tape to the family of both the sign off and sign on. If they can find the tape, we will attempt of course, to post it here.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

In what started as a sunny springlike day, ended with a reminder that winter does not go quietly in the Pacific Northwest. By evening, the area was hit by lightning and thunder and around 8:30, snow began falling (above). I was driving home from Issaquah when the snow fell heavily, although the road was not slippery, visibility was poor.

Saturday, April 02, 2011

The Seattle Mariners got off to the right start, beating the Oakland A's 6-2. Unlike the this year's Mariners, now it's the A's who carry the burden of high expectations. Many writers are picking the Oakland team to win it's division.